Why Is It Important To Clean Optical Devices - Keysight Technologies 81490A User Manual

Cleaning Information

Why is it important to clean optical devices?

Keysight 81490A Reference Transmitter Module User's Guide, Edition 3.0
In transmission links optical fiber cores are about 9 m
(0.00035") in diameter. Dust and other particles, however,
can range from tenths to hundredths of microns in diameter.
Their comparative size means that they can cover a part of
the end of a fiber core, and as a result will reduce the
performance of your system.
Furthermore, the power density may burn dust into the fiber
and cause additional damage (for example, 0 dBm optical
power in a single mode fiber causes a power density of
approximately 16 million W/m
measurements become inaccurate and non-repeatable.
Cleaning is, therefore, an essential yet difficult task.
Unfortunately, when comparing most published cleaning
recommendations, you will discover that they contain several
inconsistencies. In this section, we want to suggest ways to
help you clean your various optical devices, and thus
significantly improve the accuracy and repeatability of your
lightwave measurements.
Why is it important to clean optical devices?
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). If this happens,
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